Portland: Series practice two report

Drissi Heats Up Cool Trans-Am Practice at Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 13, 2009) -- Tomy Drissi, of Los Angeles, used
the cool overcast conditions to his advantage when he turned a practice
time of 1:10.696 (100.164 mph) during this morning's...

Drissi Heats Up Cool Trans-Am Practice at Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (June 13, 2009) -- Tomy Drissi, of Los Angeles, used
the cool overcast conditions to his advantage when he turned a practice
time of 1:10.696 (100.164 mph) during this morning's Round Five
Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am practice, as part of the Fluge Global
Adventures Rose Cup Classic at Portland International Raceway. Greg
Pickett, of Benicia, Calif., was second quickest in the session.

Drissi, who is the current Trans-Am Championship point leader, turned his
fastest time on his eighth and final lap of the 20-minute practice
session. In fact, early in the session, Drissi's No. 5 Ice Age: Dawn
of the Dinosaurs Jaguar XKR developed an oil leak and was smoking heavily
before he brought his machine to pit lane for repairs.

His pit crew quickly fixed the leak and sent Drissi on his way. When he
returned to the track, he needed only two laps to set a time that was
nearly 2.5 seconds faster than the current Trans-Am qualifying record at
PIR. Klaus Graf is the current record holder with a 1:13.189 (96.752
mph), which he set in 2005 driving a Jaguar XKR.

"The reason we were all fired up [for practice] was because at the
last minute Trans-Am said, 'While we do qualify in the rain, if it
gets really bad, we don't want to wreck a bunch of cars. We will
revert back to the practice times from this session,'" Drissi
said. "I am really happy right now. We made some huge changes from
yesterday. But, had we known that this might have been
'qualifying,' we wouldn't have made them. We'll see if
this turned out to be just practice or not. But, if it isn't, we are
going to have to back this up this afternoon."

Pickett, who was fastest in yesterday's practice, only turned six
laps this morning in his No. 6 Muscle Milk Jaguar XKR. The 1978 series
Champion turned a best time of 1:11.701 (98.760 mph). This weekend,
Pickett hopes to notch his second victory of the season and, if he does,
it will be his second career win at PIR and his 18th overall as a
Trans-Am driver.

Rookie Todd Harris, of Portland, Ore., is no rookie to PIR and, to show
it, he recorded the third fastest time in his No. 24 Muscle Milk Jaguar
XKR with a 1:11.793 (98.633 mph).

Tony Ave, of Maiden, N.C., was fourth quickest in the No. 10 McMahon
Group/Stumpf Ford/Pro Motor Ford Mustang with a 1:11.805 (98.617 mph),
while Dan Ramoutarsingh, of LaRomain, Trinidad, was fifth with a 1:12.810
(97.255 mph).

Seventeen cars will take to the track at 3:05 p.m. (PDT) today for
qualifying. The Round Five green flag will wave at 2:55 p.m., Sunday,
June 14. For the latest Trans-Am news and results, visit
www.sccatrans-am.com.